State Assembly passes education reform bills

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with eighth grader Daquan Scott, 14, following his remarks at the Rosa Parks Middle School, in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Schwarzenegger visited the school where he called on lawmakers to approve a measure he is backing for federal Race to th

/ AP

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with eighth grader Daquan Scott, 14, following his remarks at the Rosa Parks Middle School, in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Schwarzenegger visited the school where he called on lawmakers to approve a measure he is backing for federal Race to the Top education funding. California stands to qualify for up to $700 million. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger shakes hands with eighth grader Daquan Scott, 14, following his remarks at the Rosa Parks Middle School, in Sacramento, Calif., Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2010. Schwarzenegger visited the school where he called on lawmakers to approve a measure he is backing for federal Race to the Top education funding. California stands to qualify for up to $700 million. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli) (/ AP)

SAMANTHA YOUNG, Associated Press Writer

The California Assembly on Tuesday passed two landmark education-reform bills that will give parents and state officials broad authority to overhaul the state's worst schools.

Lawmakers acted under a tight deadline set by the Obama administration, which is pushing school-reform efforts through its Race to the Top initiative. At stake for California is up to $700 million in competitive grants.

The Assembly's action sends the two bills to the state Senate, which is scheduled to consider them Wednesday. If approved, the legislative package will go to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who has been pushing lawmakers to act since calling a special session in August.

He issued a statement after the vote urging the Senate to pass the legislation. He said it was needed to ensure California could submit a competitive application for a portion of the $4.3 billion being made available by the federal government.

Lawmakers who support the reforms said the legislation would provide a lifeline to parents and students in California's poorest-performing school districts.

"It's bold. It signifies a commitment to President Obama's call to take drastic steps when our schools are failing," said Assemblyman Juan Arambula, an independent from Fresno.

The legislation struck a compromise between different versions favored previously by the Assembly and Senate, although it includes controversial provisions on parental rights.

It requires persistently failing schools to make sweeping changes, including the possibility a school could be closed or converted to a charter school.

Parents at some of the worst schools would be empowered to demand changes and move their children to a better school. Those options are opposed by teachers unions.

"I believe that this program abandons our neighborhood schools, the children that live there and the people nearby," said Assemblyman Tom Torlakson, D-Antioch. "Even worse, it abandons those very schools that are most in need of our help."

Other lawmakers sided with teachers unions and complained the Legislature was rushing into sweeping reforms that would have lasting consequences for what amounts to a relatively small pot of one-time money. K-12 education will get nearly $36 billion in this year's general fund budget.

The vote split Assembly Democrats, many of whom supported the reforms and parted with the California Teachers Association, one of the most influential lobbying groups in Sacramento and one of the Democratic Party's major financial backers.

Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, voted in favor of the reforms but acknowledged the risk that the state might not get a dime in Race to the Top funding because the money will be awarded on a competitive basis.

"I'm very concerned about how California will fare because one of the requirements is a state demonstrates a commitment to funding education," she said in an interview after the vote. "It's difficult to demonstrate that commitment when in our last few years we've been cutting."

Billions of dollars have been cut from K-12 and higher education as the state has faced a continuing fiscal crisis and a steep drop in tax revenue.

Bass said she hoped California, which has 6 million public school students, would be given special consideration for embracing reforms such as parental choice, which were beyond the requirements called for by the Obama administration.

Both bills needed a simple majority vote in the 80-member Assembly to pass and were narrowly approved. One, by Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, D-Sacramento, passed 44-17, while the other, by Sen. Gloria Romero, D-Los Angeles, passed 41-27.

Among the reforms in the bills:

- School districts could tie teacher evaluations to student performance if allowed by collective bargaining agreements.

- The state superintendent of public instruction would identify poor-performing schools that need help, including high schools with graduation rates below 60 percent.

- Districts with a failing school will be required to take aggressive steps to turn it around. That could include replacing the principal and half the staff, converting a school to a charter school, closing the school and enrolling students in other high-achieving schools, and replacing the principal and reforming teaching methods.

- Students enrolled in the state's worst 1,000 schools would be allowed to transfer to higher-performing schools. School districts would adopt standards for accepting and rejecting transfer applications.

- Parents whose children attend poor-performing schools could petition a school district to turn around the school. The program would be limited to 75 schools, a cap imposed as part of the legislative negotiations.